Student Group Organizes Art Displays for Disability Awareness Week

Market Square in downtown Knoxville will be a little more colorful on November 30, thanks to Campus Disability Advocates.

The UT group is putting together an art display of works representing the experiences of people with disabilities—and submissions are being accepted through the end of this week.

The art show will include works from community groups who provide art classes for disabled people, including Open Arms Care, a group which developed technology to help people with disabilities create art.

Anyone interested in submitting art can do so, as long as the work represents some kind of experience with disability. Lindsay Lee, president of Campus Disability Advocates, said she hopes this will be a “cool, artistic way to connect the disability community on campus with the Knoxville community.”

The Market Square art display is part of a larger Disability Awareness Week celebration taking place on campus from November 26-30.

A variety of events are being planned, including a photography exhibit on Pedestrian Walkway. Photography student Marigrace Angelo has taken black-and-white portraits of UT students with disabilities which will be displayed on the walkway.

Lee, a senior in honors mathematics, said the idea was inspired by a French artist who uses portraits as street art worldwide to promote peace and understanding.

Lee said she hopes the displays will show the “full lives and full personalities” of people with disabilities and advance the university’s diversity efforts by recognizing and advocating for this community.

For more information or to submit artwork, contact Lindsay Lee at llee26@utk.edu.